Mischievous Rescuers
by grugster
Summary: A joke from the Weasley twins leads to the rescue of an eight year-old Harry Potter from his abusive relatives. AU-Story!
1. Chapter 1

_Thanks a lot to my beta-reader_, _Emma, for correcting my mistakes._

_Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A great thank you to my moti-betas as well._

_I'm not a native speaker of English!_

**Dear readers,**

I really didn't want to start a new story before I finished, "Harry and his new famly 2" and then it should have been the sequel for "A Better Childhood" but now things had come different than planned. The plot of this story just didn't let me go and I had to start to write it down. I hope you will like it. Please let me know.

This story has James Smith in it. My old readers already know him, but I tried to make this story readable for people who doesn't know my others stories. So it should be no problem. If there is something unclear, please let me know.

Sunny

* * *

**Chapter 1 – The Poisoning**

Whimpering miserably, Harry lay in his dark prison. His back and his bum hurt horribly. They hurt so badly that he had pulled up his top and his trousers down so that nothing lay over the wounds his uncle's belt had left on his body. It was so unfair. Harry hadn't even done anything wrong. Dudley had bought a big plushy from the amusement park his relatives had visited two days ago while Harry had to clean the holiday home they were currently living in.

The plushy was a big brown bear, and Harry would have loved to cuddle with it while he had to sleep in the big frightening bed he had to sleep in. He wasn't used sleeping in beds as at home he lived in a small cupboard under the stairs. Here they didn't have one like this, so Harry had to sleep with his cousin Dudley in one room. Neither of the boys were happy about it, and Dudley tried hard to get Harry in trouble whenever possible.

This morning he had ripped out the eyes of the teddy bear, and then after flashing Harry an evil grin, he had started to cry loud and even had pressed tears out of his eyes. He was very good at this. Of course Dudley had told his parents that Harry had done this and even had threatened him to poke his eyes out as well. Uncle Vernon had been enraged, and Harry had never had a beating that bad. He didn't even care about the old used sock of Dudley's, that Uncle Vernon had pressed in his mouth to muffle his screams, so bad was the pain.

The pain was still bad, even though his relatives must have been gone for hours now. The only good thing was that Harry didn't feel hunger over all the pain. The bottom of the cupboard was wet from the eight year-olds tears when he rested his face on it. What had he done deserve this?

X-X

"What do you suggest we should do, Healer Smith?" Hannah Bencock, leader of the crisis team for Magical Accidents with Muggles, asked the calm healer.

"The shop the twins have placed their poisoned food in luckily was very small and only the local citizens go shopping there. The biggest problem we have is that we also have some tourist activities there. As we are in the middle of the week, we could be lucky that nobody left the area until now. We should act quickly and contact all the Muggles to examine them for side effects."

"The boys need to be punished," Dolores Umbridge, current leader of the Forbidden Underage Magic department, demanded shrilly.

"They are just boys, a little bit over ten," Arthur said fearfully. "They didn't mean any harm. They just wanted to make the Muggle's hair turn lilac. They didn't know the potion could have any side effects on Muggles."

"But it has and so they risked the life of Muggles and the discovery of our world," Umbridge said agitated.

"They are only ten years old, so they still fall under my responsibility, Dolores," Anna Castledoom, leader of the Children's department, chipped in.

Hannah sighed to get control of herself and then calmly said, "We are not speaking about punishment yet. So how should we contact the Muggles, Arthur?"

Arthur Weasley, not only father of the two mischievous potion brewer but head of the department for Muggle Artifacts, tried to keep calm. "We should contact them by telephone. That's their normal communication system and every house has one. We should tell them we are from the health welfare office and need to examine those who have consumed the... spiked food." He refused to call it poisoned.

"Can you help us with these communication systems, Arthur?" Healer James asked. "I could gather up a few healers, who can go through the list we have from the people in this area and the holiday houses."

Arthur nodded, still tense in his fear that his boys would be punished for this.

"That's a good idea, I think," Hannah said, hoping they could end this conference and the whole incident as soon as possible.

X-X

"Get out you freak," Uncle Vernon said and hauled Harry out of the cupboard. "What the hell did you do in there? Get your trousers up, you pervert."

Harry tried to frantically pull up his pants while his uncle pulled violently at his hair. The pain in his scalp was as bad as the pain of the clothes touching his wounds. "I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon."

"I hate hearing my name in your filthy mouth. Stop calling me by my name. How often do I have to tell you this until you get it in your empty head?" Again he threw the poor eight year old around by his hair. Dudley snickered when Harry was moved like a rag doll and big tears rolled down the small boy's cheeks.

"Go and make us something to eat!" Vernon pushed Harry in the direction of the kitchen.

Harry was scared, never had his body hurt like this. He could hardly see through all the tears while he prepared the food. The spaghetti found its way easily into the big pot. Harry's moves almost were mechanical, but here in the new surrounding it was harder for him. He didn't dare to spend time with taking care for himself. He knew he had to be quick as his relatives had plans for the afternoon. Fearing he would have to spend the rest of the day in the cupboard, Harry quickly cut the onion, now not being able to see more than edges. Adding the tins of tomato sauce and meat to the pan he cooked the goulash.

When he finally dared to wash his face and clean his glasses, the meal was almost done. Harry placed his glasses back on his nose and turned to the cooker. His heart stopped beating. On the small table beside the cooker stood the tin of tomato sauce and beside it an old tin of dog food that had stood amongst the tins in the cupboard. Who know how old it was and who had left it here.

Hearing heavy footsteps coming closer, Harry ran over to the table and quickly hid the empty tins, just in time. His uncle stepped into the kitchen and looked suspicious at Harry. "What have you done?"

Harry knew saying nothing would just convince his uncle that something was wrong. Playing dumb was the best. "Goulash, sir."

"Stupid freak," Vernon muttered and stepped over to the cooker. Harry's heart seemed to try to jump out of his chest.

As if in slow motion Harry saw his uncle taking the big spoon, stir the dog food goulash a few times and then spoon up some of the disgusting substance. Harry watched his uncle's face knowing this would be the death of him; his uncle would kill him for this.

"At least you are good for something, freak." Uncle Vernon scooped another spoon of it in his monstrous mouth before he turned to Harry.

The small boy looked in shock at the ugly tongue that slipped out of his uncle's mouth to scoop some of the goulash off of his mustache.

"Go tell you aunt and cousin to come for lunch and then go to your room and change your clothes. What if someone comes and sees you like this, freak?"

X-X

The telephone rang, and Harry jumped. His relatives had left for shopping, and Uncle Vernon hadn't locked Harry in the cupboard again. Some of Uncle Vernon's business partners had this number here, and Harry was ordered to answer the calls and tell them to call later.

With shaking hands Harry took the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hello, with whom am I speaking?" a male voice asked.

"Harry." Harry cursed inwardly. "Ehm... this is the telephone of Vernon Dursley."

"Hello, Harry, are your parents around?"

"No, my uncle and his family are out. You need to call later."

"No, no, wait, Harry," the male voice said. Harry wasn't sure if that was a good idea. He wasn't allowed to speak with stranger or with anyone at all. They could find out that he is freakish and that would be a big shame for his relatives.

"I'm not allowed to talk with other people."

The voice at the other end didn't say anything. Harry didn't know that it was out of shock and not because the person had finished the call, so he put the receiver back on the cradle. Not having been able to take one step in the kitchen again to clean it, Harry jumped as the telephone ran again.

"Hello," he said shyly. "This is the telephone of Vernon Dursley."

"Harry, it's me again. I'm Doctor Smith. Please don't hang up again. It is important that we talk. You and your family could be in danger."

Harry's mouth clapped open. "Danger?"

"Nothing too bad, but I'm calling from the Health Welfare Office. We have been informed that some of the food in Mr. Lorenzo's shop in Minsterton had been poisoned. Therefore I need to know if you have bought and consumed food from this shop. I need to examine you and your family to be sure that you have not been affected."

"I bought some tins and groceries there yesterday." Oh, what if he had poisoned his relatives? Uncle Vernon will kill him. Then Harry remembered he hadn't used anything beside the tomato sauce and the spaghetti from the shop. "Are the tins poisoned? Or the dog food tins?" Who knows when the tin was brought and where, so better to be safe than sorry.

"Yes, some tins were soiled as well. So I should come over and check you and your relatives, Harry. When will they be back?"

"I don't know. Today, very late I think. They will eat outside. You better should come tomorrow morning. I don't think they have anything planned then."

Again there was a short pause at the other end of the receiver. "How old are you Harry?"

Oh, oh, this question was not good. The tone with what it was asked made Harry's alarm bells rang. "I need to stop talking with you now. You need to come tomorrow to check my relatives, sir." With that he hung up.

X-X

"What is it darling?" Clara asked worriedly, seeing the expression on her husband's face. "Did someone already show side effects?"

James shook his head to clear it. "That was really weird. I talked with a boy. He seemed to be very young and alone in the holiday house while his relatives were outside. He said they would come back very late because they ate outside. What is he doing alone?"

"Maybe he only sounded young. You know those things change voices, James," Clara said, trying to calm her husband.

"No, something is seriously wrong there. I know this, Clara." James looked up in the brown eyes of his wife, those eyes that often could soothe pain and worry from him, but not today. "He hung up when I asked him for his age and he never stated that he ate anything, just that he bought the food. He even said I should come to examine his relatives, he didn't include himself."

"James, please, I know you are worried, but don't let your mind form stories by now. You know how important it is to access a case with a clear mind and without prejudices."

James snorted. "So you agree with me that this is already a case."

Clara smiled at him. "Of course I do. I know your intuition never fails you. I just ask that you don't worry too much. You will check on him and his relatives tomorrow. Do you want me to come with you?"

James shook his head. "Maybe I am just overreacting."

X-X

"What did you tell him, boy." Uncle Vernon shook Harry until he saw stars.

"Nothing I swear. He said the food is poisoned and I was worried about you. He will come to check on you tomorrow. Maybe you need some medicine."

Uncle Vernon hit Harry hard on the back of his head. "Pray that you didn't poison us, you damn freak."

"But... but I didn't know the food was poisoned. You sent me to the shop." Harry held his cheek as this comment had earned him a hard slap in his face. "I'm sorry, Uncle."

"You should be, freak." He grabbed Harry by his hair and pulled him to the cupboard. "You will spend the night in there and tomorrow you will hide upstairs."

X-X

"Hello, Harry," James said. Oh he had definitely overreacted. The boy wasn't starved. Maybe he was eating only sweets when his relatives leave him alone. He needs to have a serious word with them.

"I'm not the freak," the fat boy stated, disgusted. "I'm Dudley. You need to check if the freak has poisoned us."

"Dudley," a thin woman exclaimed, shocked. Then she smiled faked at James. "We shouldn't let him watch so much TV. Boys!"

James's alarm bells rang so loud in his head, he could hardly concentrate. What the hell was going on in this family? He forced himself to remain calm and follow the thin woman and her fat boy into the living room where an equally fat man sat.

"The doctor is here, Vernon," the woman said, tense.

"Ah, come over here." Vernon waved him over.

"I will start by checking your son, Mr. Dursley." How could the whale of a man suggest he would examine him first and not his son. This family was horrible, and James even felt sorry for the fat boy.

James used Muggle methods to check the vitals of the people and took a blood sample for safety to test if the potion was in their bodies. During his examination he very faintly used his ability to scan patients with his hands by magic. Unfortunately this method even caused Muggles to feel a faint tingling, so he needed to distract them during the scanning with other things.

Those people here were so dumb or ignorant that James hardly needed any distraction. They showed some abnormalities but that could also be from their eating disorders. The blood samples were the only things that could say for sure if they were poisoned.

"There are some worrying results, but I can only be sure that they come from the poisoning after I have checked your blood samples. I shall contact you tomorrow. Where is Harry? And I should better examine your dog as well," James stated when he was finished with his examination.

"What dog? We don't have a dog," Vernon said, shocked as if the idea to have a dog disgusted him.

"Oh, Harry told me something about a dog. So where is Harry?" James almost feared the answer.

"The boy ran away," Vernon lied.

"Mr. Dursley?" James asked sternly, knowing full well the man was lying.

"It's like I said. He ran away. Now please leave and inform us about—"

"I won't leave until I have examined all the people that could have come into contact with the poisoned food, Mr. Dursley. So if you don't want me to call for help in this case you should better tell me where Harry is." James was slowly losing his patience out of worry for the boy. This happened seldom as James was a high ranked healer for physical and mental health problems.

"The boy is very shy and is scared of strangers. I can assure you he hasn't eaten that food. He... he needs a special diet," Mrs Dursley explained, her eyes wandering fearfully to the ceiling from time to time.

"A special diet of what, Mrs. Dursley? The boy has to eat something after all."

"He has eaten," Mr. Dursley screamed and slammed his fist on the couch table.

James's alarm bells rang so loud he wasn't sure he could listen to the lies of these people any longer. Arthur had told him to threaten people that won't cooperate with some people called the police. They seemed to be the Aurors of the Muggles.

"If you won't show me Harry in the next few minutes, I will call the police, Mr. Dursley. This poison is dangerous, and I need to make sure everybody in this area is checked over."

Mr. Dursley seemed to be close before an explosion and Mrs. Dursley close from fainting out of fair. James was very worried for the small boy he had talked to yesterday. He should have checked on him immediately. What have those horrible people done to him?

* * *

**Please let me know if you are interested in this story, and if I should go on posting here.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks a lot to my beta-reader_, _Emma, for correcting my mistakes._

_Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A great thank you to my moti-betas as well._

_I'm not a native speaker of English!_

**Dear readers,**

I was absolutely amazed by the feedback I got for the first chapter of this story. Thank you very much. I hope you will review again after reading the new chapter. Please tell me what you think.

Sunny

* * *

**Chapter 2 - I'm a Wizard**

-II-

"He has eaten," Mr. Dursley screamed and slammed his fist on the couch table.

James's alarm bells rang so loud he wasn't sure he could listen to the lies of these people any longer. Arthur had told him to threaten people that won't cooperate with some people called the police. They seemed to be the Aurors of the Muggles.

"If you won't show me Harry in the next few minutes, I will call the police, Mr. Dursley. This poison is dangerous, and I need to make sure everybody in this area is checked over."

Mr. Dursley seemed to be close before explosion and Mrs. Dursley close from fainting out of fair. James was very worried for the small boy he had talked to yesterday. He should have checked on him immediately. What have those horrible people done to him?

-II-

Harry sat fearfully on his bed, his legs drawn up to his chest when Uncle Vernon stormed into the room.

"You will listen very clearly now, boy. We will go down, and you will tell the doctor you are all fine and haven't eaten anything from the shop."

"But I secretly eat some of the vegetable, Uncle Vernon. What if I'm poisoned?" Harry was so scared. This thought hadn't left his head for the whole night. He had eaten a little bit of the cucumber as his relatives had already punished him for buying it even though they didn't like cucumbers. Harry hadn't known this.

"Do you think I care if you are poisoned, freak?" Vernon grabbed Harry's arm forcefully and pulled him off the bed. "If you let the doctor see your wounds, I will kill you, boy."

X-X

Damn, this boy was definitely abused. His clothes hang off of him like rags and his expression was one of pure horror and fear. James felt guilty for making the boy suffer miserably even longer than he had to for not coming yesterday. Trying to control himself, James smiled friendly at Harry. "Hello, Harry, it's nice to see the face that belongs to the nice voice I talked to yesterday."

Harry looked so scared that James feared the boy would faint. "I haven't eaten anything. I didn't feel well, so I didn't eat anything."

James frowned. What had the whale of a man told Harry upstairs? "If you didn't feel well, it's good I'm here to check you over."

Vernon grabbed for the fragile boy's shirt and pulled him forcefully backwards. "He is all right. You are here to check those who have consumed the poisoned food. The boy hasn't eaten any of it, so you can leave now."

James was in a dilemma. Would they be a magical family, he would long have called the Aurors and taken the boy away from his family. Those here were Muggles, and he couldn't just take a Muggle boy out of his family. "I won't leave before I've examined, Harry. He may have eaten some of the food secretly."

Harry bit his bottom lip in guilt.

"So have you eaten something without your family knowing, Harry?" James asked, having seen the gesture.

Big tears started to spill from Harry's eyes. "I don't want to die."

"You won't die, Harry. Come over here so I can examine you."

Harry shook his head in fear and looked at his uncle.

"That's enough. I will use your phone now and call the police." That threat worked, and the fat man shoved Harry violently down the stairs in James direction.

"Go over to the doctor!" Vernon ordered angrily.

"Vernon?" Mrs. Dursley exclaimed, scared.

Harry stood sobbing in front of the kind doctor. He didn't want to die of poisoning, but he also didn't want to be murdered by his uncle for letting the doctor see his wounds.

"You don't need to be scared, Harry. I will just listen to your heart and lungs and examine your stomach and belly." James pulled out the Muggle stethoscope.

Harry trembled like a leaf now and clutched the hem of his shirt to hold it in place. What was the boy hiding?

"You need to undress for this, Harry."

Again the boy shook his head frantically and looked over to his uncle. This boy was screaming abuse from every fiber of his body. James had to control himself to not grab the boy to bring him to safety.

"Harry, it will be okay. I promise I will help you," James said very calmly, hoping the boy would understand his message but knowing the chances were low for this due to the fright of the child.

Slowly and gently James pried Harry's hands away from his shirt and lifted it over the boy's head. A ripple of magic made James stop in his tracks. It was going through his magic sensitive body like a shock wave. The boy was a wizard. A gasp from the woman in the room pulled James out of his stupor.

Harry obviously alarmed by his aunt's gasp, looked over his shoulder at his back. James followed the boys glance and saw an unmarked white back. The ribs stood out as the boy was very skinny but others than that the boy was alright from first sight. So why had he resisted lifting his shirt and why had the woman reacted so shocked?

James let his eyes wander to the people in the room. The woman looked frightened and the man looked furious. He was clenching his hands in fists and his head was red from anger. Dudley was sitting bored at the couch, not a least bit worried about what happened.

"Okay, Harry I will listen to your heart now." James pressed his hand on Harry's back to steady him but also to scan him with magic while he pressed the stethoscope to the boy's chest.

"That doesn't sound good," James said, overplaying his shock over the results of his magical scan. "His heart has a serious arrhythmia," James lied. "I need to take him with me to the hospital."

"We only have three more days of vacation," Mr. Dursley said and stepped closer to them.

"I will check him though and tell you what treatment he needs when I inform you about your results tomorrow. Maybe I can even bring him back by then." This lie would hopefully put the Muggles at ease. The boy's glamour had made them relax as well. They thought James had no clue about the injuries of the boy.

The two adult Dursleys looked at each other until the woman shrugged her shoulders and then nodded.

"All right," Mr. Dursley said and looked warningly at Harry, who cringed under his uncle's glance.

"Do you want to take something with you, Harry?" James asked while he helped the boy to dress again.

Harry shook his head.

"No plushy or anything else?"

Again the boy shook his head.

Five minutes later James was placing Harry on the passenger seat of the car he had lent from Arthur for this job. He drove around a few corners and then stopped to call Arthur. Not wanting to alarm the boy, he used the Muggle mobile. "Arthur?"

The Weasley matriarch replied.

"I have some problems. Until now we only found people with slight side effects, but I found a boy I have to take with me to examine him more closely. Please inform Anna that I had to remove Harry Dursley from his family. They are currently living in the holiday home on Baker Street No. 10. I will contact the Aurors later, but I want her to know before."

"All right, James. If you need help, let me know. I will call Anna. Do you take the boy to your home or to the clinic?"

"I will bring him home with me. I have the rest of the day off. Damn," James exclaimed and had to grab for Harry who was trying to flee from the car. "Arthur, I call you later." James threw the mobile phone away and pulled Harry back into the car with both his hand and closed the door.

"Harry, everything is all right. You don't have to be afraid."

"You said you will take me to your home and not to the hospital, and you said you will call those Outdoors people. What will they do to me? What will _you_ do to me?" The boy sobbed in fear, and James feared he would get a heart attack if he wasn't able to calm the boy down.

"Look at me, Harry," James said and took Harry's neck to soothingly draw circles on it and let calming magic flow into the frightened boy. It worked and Harry became more relaxed. "I would never hurt you, Harry. I'll take you home with me because I have all the necessary things to examine you there and my family will be happy to get to know you. I can monitor you over night for any side effects of the potion."

"What about the outdoor people?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Harry."

"You said it to the one on the phone. You said you would call them later."

"The Aurors, Harry. I said I'll call the Aurors later. They work together with me and want to know if anyone has been poisoned. That's why I have to call them I will explain everything else to you after I've examined you, Harry."

X-X

Harry didn't believe the man completely. This story was just too weird. At least Harry had managed to hide his wounds. He knew they were just hidden because they still hurt like hell. Things like this had happened lately more and more often, mostly concerning his hair. It often grew back to its normal length whenever Aunt Petunia tries to cut it. One day Harry's black eye was gone whilst he was at pre-school and when he came back home it just appeared again. So Harry hoped his wounds would stay away as long as he was with the sandy-haired doctor with this odd pointy goatee.

In awe Harry looked at the big house the doctor stopped in front of. It had a beautiful garden with a lot of flowers in front of it and a high green hedge.

"Come on, Harry, let's go inside so I can finally check you over." James placed his hand in Harry's neck, ignoring the flinch of the boy. He started to draw calming circles again and let more relaxing magic run into the boy.

Inside the house, they were immediately greeted by a small girl with blond shoulder-long locks who happily ran down the hall to James. "Daddy!"

Harry watched sadly in awe how the girl was scooped up and kissed. "Hello, my darling," James said in greeting.

James sat the girl down when she looked interested at Harry. Maybe his little sweetie could calm Harry's fear.

"Hi," the girl said. "Who are you?"

Harry looked at the cute little girl. "I'm Harry."

"I'm Emily," the girl said proudly and pointed at her chest.

"Hi, Emily." Harry saw another person coming over to them. A boy of maybe sixteen or seventeen. Before Harry could inspect the boy better, Emily pulled at his hand to get his attention again. "How old are you? I'm three."

"I'm eight," Harry said.

"You shouldn't lie," Emily reprimanded, obvious imitating an adult person who said this very often to her.

"I'm not lying."

"You can't be eight. You are too small."

Harry saw James wanting to interfere, but the unknown boy beat him in it. "Some people get a growth spurt later, Em. Be nice to our guest." The brown haired tall boy scooped Emily up and looked at Harry. "My sister here often says what comes to her mind without thinking about it. I'm Taylor Smith."

"I'm Harry." This all was very awkward.

"Daddy, do you know what happened in daycare?" Emily didn't give her father time to answer or stop her. "Paul stole Mrs. Meyers wand and made the big teddy bear explode. I want to do magic as well."

Harry's eyes went wide, and he stepped backwards. "No, you mustn't speak about this." Oh no, now James would beat the cute little girl for talking freak-language.

"Harry?" James asked, worried.

"Magic doesn't exist. She doesn't know that. You can't punish her for it. Please."

James let Harry back into the corner and turned to his son. "Is Mum around?"

"She is over at Hogwarts, helping Aunt Poppy."

"Please call her and ask her to come over."

Taylor nodded and vanished with his sister in his arms behind one of the doors.

"I won't punish my daughter for speaking about magic, Harry. Why do you think I would do something like this?"

"Magic isn't real. Only freaks talk about it." Harry tried to be as small as possible. He didn't want to talk with James about it. He wanted back to his relatives. He was scared.

Harry was still sobbing hard when a woman with brown hair and a very friendly but worried face knelt down beside Doctor Smith a few feet away from Harry.

"Hello, my name is Clara Smith. So who are you?"

"Harry. Harry Potter." Shock, pure shock, was written all over the adult's face, and Harry saw Taylor stare open mouthed at him.

Clara gathered her wits first. "Hello, Harry, it's nice to get to know you. Would you like to drink a hot chocolate? My children say I make one of the best."

Harry looked scared at James. The man had recovered from his shock, and gave Harry a friendly look. So what had been so shocking about his name?

"The living room is much more comfortable than this corner, Harry. Come on, let's have a hot chocolate." Clara held her hand out for him. Harry didn't know why, but he liked this woman and wanted her to make everything all right again. Mrs. Figg, Harry's neighbor, had sometime offered him tea and he was allowed to drink it with her, but other than her nobody ever offered him such kindness.

Shyly, Harry took Clara's hand and let her lead him into the living room. Harry felt like someone special when she brought him a hot steaming cup of hot chocolate and sat down beside Harry on the couch. James had sat down on an armchair, and Taylor had sat down on the smaller couch with his sister.

"What's wrong with Harry?" Emily asked her big brother, but he hushed her and placed his fingers on her lips.

"Harry, what happened that made you panic that much in the hall?" Clara asked, taking Harry's free hand.

First Harry flinched and then he looked shocked down at his hand in hers. Something odd happened; some warm and tickling came from her hand and ran into his and the hot chocolate in his stomach made him feel calm and relaxed. Little did Harry know that Clara was a healer and now was letting magic flow into Harry like James had done and had spiked his hot chocolate with a calming draught.

"My... my relatives say magic doesn't exist, and I never should take the word in my mouth. It's dirty, it's freak language."

"Your cousin said something about freaks, Harry. Now you speak about it as well. What is this about freaks?" James asked. If only he had had time to inform his wife about what had happened, then he would have let her talk to Harry, as she was the neutral one in his eyes, and Harry was more relaxed in her presence. Unfortunately she hadn't had the important information, so James had to interfere from time to time.

Could Harry tell them? Could he tell them about freaks and that he was one? What if they threw him out then? He would never find his way back to his relatives. The warm fluffy feeling became even more prominent and the tickling in his hand had made it very heavy as it made his whole body seem to become more heavy. "I'm a freak." Harry started to whisper. "Things happened with me or around me. Bad things. I'm bad."

"No, you are not bad, Harry. You are a small boy, and you can't be bad. Who told you such lies?"

Lies? The kind woman thought that they were lies. She believed him? Why? "My relatives and they know me, ma'am. They had to raise me and so they know how freakish I am."

Clara shook her head sadly. "You are not freakish, Harry. You are a sweet, very kind boy. I'm glad to be able to get to know you. I'm Clara and not 'ma'am.'" She smiled openly at Harry, which made his heart beat a bit faster. He had often imagined his mother looking at him like this whilst taking him to bed like Aunt Petunia always did with Dudley.

Harry couldn't believe Clara. Too many years he had been told he was a freak.

Seeing that Harry became introverted again, James scooted closer to him by sitting on the couch table. He hoped his little angel wouldn't ruin his tactic by commenting that sitting on the table wasn't allowed. She didn't and inwardly he praised her for knowing that it would have been a bad idea at the moment. She was such a bright girl, just like her mother. "Harry, you said strange things happen with you and around you."

Harry's eyes became bulgy, and Clara could no longer hold herself back. She leaned over to the frightened child and gently pressed Harry against her chest, his head resting on her shoulder. First the boy stiffened dangerously, obviously not used to affections like this, but then he relaxed and started to sob.

Harry didn't know what happened with him, but it seemed something snapped inside of him and all his emotionally pain came over him like a flood wave when the kind woman embraced him. Embraced _him_! The freak. Why did she do so? Why wasn't she disgusted with him, even after he had told them what he was and what happened around him? "I'm dangerous. You shouldn't keep me in the house. I could hurt your children."

Instead of pushing Harry away, like he had expected, she pulled him even closer to her so he was now sitting on her lap his head still resting on her shoulder with her hand on the back of his head, slowly stroking his hair. "Stop talking like this, Harry. You aren't bad nor are you a freak or dangerous. Calm down." She slowly rocked him fro and back. When he had calmed down, she said, "James wanted to tell you something, honey."

It took Harry a short time to realize he was meant by this pet name. Surprised he looked up at Clara and got even more shocked when she smiled and kissed him on his forehead. If his father hadn't been a drunk and crashed his car, killing himself and Harry's mother, would he have a family like Taylor and Emily now? Would his mother kiss him like this and would his father look so concerned at him and try to explain things for him? The Dursleys never did things like this to him.

Clara chuckled sadly and nudged Harry's chin in James' direction.

"Tell me what happens to you or around you, Harry."

That was it. Now he would have to tell them and Clara would push him off her lap disgusted. He tried to cuddle against her again, shaking his head, but this time she gently refused him. "But you won't like me anymore when I tell you," Harry said miserably.

"I promise you to still like you, Harry. Big, big, promise. Emily and Taylor can tell you I never break a big, big promise," Clara said, smiling at her children.

"Yes, Mummy never breaks the big, big promise and neither does Daddy," Emily said. "You can tell them your secret. I have one too. Want to hear."

James couldn't decide between a groan of frustration or a chuckle. He held his breath when Harry really was interested and nodded.

"I made my hair stand up when Mummy wanted to put it in a ponytail. I hate pony tails," Emily whispered.

Harry's jaw dropped open. Scared like hell he waited for the adult to erupt in screams but nothing happened. "But then you are a freak too, Emily," Harry whispered scared and looked emphatically at the small girl.

"No, Harry, Emily is a witch and you are a wizard. That's why things like this happen around you or with you. You have magic you just can't control it now. When you are old enough you will be allowed a wand and will learn to use your magic correctly," James explained calmly to not frighten Harry with this news. "We adults can already control our magic. See!" James pulled his wand out and made Emily's hair stand up.

Harry was shocked but the happy giggles of Emily, the warm embrace of Clara and the calming draught in his veins made it impossible for him to panic.

"Yes, Harry, we are all witches and wizards," Clara spoke softly in his ear.

Harry let his eyes roam over all the people in the room until he finally understood. "I'm a wizard."

* * *

**Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks a lot to my beta-reader_, _Emma, for correcting my mistakes._

_Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A great thank you to my moti-betas as well._

_I'm not a native speaker of English!_

**Dear readers,**

There had been a little communication problem between me and my beta. Therefore the update took so long. Please forgive me.

Sunny

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Healing **

-II-

Harry's jaw dropped open. Scared he waited tensed for the adult to erupt in screams but nothing happened. "But then you are a freak too, Emily," Harry whispered scared and looked emphatically at the small girl.

"No, Harry, Emily is a witch and you are a wizard. That's why things like this happen around you or with you. You have magic you just can't control it now. When you are old enough you will be allowed a wand and will learn to use your magic correctly," James explained calmly to not frighten Harry with this news. "We adults can already control our magic. See!" James pulled his wand out and made Emily's hair stand up.

Harry was shocked but the happy giggles of Emily, the warm embrace of Clara and the calming draught in his veins made it impossible for him to panic.

"Yes, Harry, we are all witches and wizards," Clara spoke softly in his ear.

Harry let his eyes roam over all the people in the room until he finally understood. "I'm a wizard."

-II-

"The hot chocolate was good wasn't it?" Clara asked Harry after he had calmed down during exchanging stories of accidental magic with her two children. The relief that he wasn't alone in his 'freakishness' was written all over Harry's face. "Harry, James and I have to examine you now."

Harry looked scared at Clara, but they had all been so kind to him, so how could he fight them now?

"I think it is best you sleep together with Taylor in his room for this night. After that we will see if you would prefer a room on you own, okay?"

Harry's jaw dropped open. "I haven't ever had a room for—" He bit his bottom lip, why was he spilling secrets like this so openly? What was wrong with him? Maybe the poison made him do it.

"You never had a room, Harry? Where did you sleep?" Clara asked as if she was just interested and it wouldn't be very freakish.

"In the cupboard under the stairs. They say freaks like me don't deserve rooms."

"Oh, Harry." Clara pulled him tightly against her chest again, so Harry couldn't see her sad look at her husband. It was hard for her to keep her tears at bay. Who could be so horrible to a child? "We already cleared that you are no freak, Harry. So here you will get your own room if you want one. We just want you to sleep in Taylor's room for the first night so he can alarm us if you are not feeling well."

"But the doctor said he will bring me back to my relatives tomorrow," Harry said miserably in Clara's shoulder. He never wanted to leave this place and Clara's shoulder again.

"Harry," James said and laid his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Please look at me."

Harry obeyed.

"I just said that to be able to get you out of your relatives house without causing an uproar. You will never go back to them."

"But I have nowhere else to go. Nobody wants someone like me."

James closed his eyes in despair.

"Anyone with a right mind would love to have a boy like you, Harry," Clara said and kissed his cheek. She looked at James and then said, "We would love to have a boy like you."

"Yeah," Emily screamed and jumped down from Taylor's lap. "You can sleep in my room, Harry. I can tell Mummy and Daddy as well if you don't feel all right in the night."

James scooped her up in his lap. "Remember, poppet. Boys like to sleep in the same room with boys, like at Hogwarts."

"But Harry is small, he isn't going to Hogwarts, so he can sleep in my room."

"Your logic is amazing, Em," Taylor said, laughing. He went over to his father, knowing his parents need to get Harry to agree to the examination. He held his hand out for his sister. "Come on, Em. We go looking if some of your dolls want to have some tea with us, and next weekend I will have a sleep over in your room."

"Really?" Emily looked at her big brother with big, hopeful eyes.

"Really." Taylor smiled down at her. This summer holiday seemed to be more fun than he had thought with all his homework.

X-X

Harry sat shivering on the bed James had transformed out of the air. The room was amazing, as Harry always had imagined a big boy room. On the walls were many posters of some people who were holding brooms which looked odd and they wore colorful uniforms. The most shocking thing was that the people on the posters were moving, One poster especially caught Harry's attention. It was one where people flew on those brooms and were throwing something like a squared ball around.

"Harry, I know this is all very fascinating for you but we are really worried and would like to see how badly you are hurt," Clara said while she gently pulled Harry's chin in her direction.

"The poison hurt me?"

Clara sighed. "No, Harry, your relatives hurt you."

Harry's jaw drop open, and he quickly lifted his shirt to see if his wounds had come back. To his surprise they weren't visible. Harry felt tricked and looked accusingly at Clara and James.

"We don't need to see your wounds to know that they are there, Harry. James and I are healers. They are doctors for wizards and witches, and we don't always need medical instruments to examine or heal a patient."

"How then?"

Clara smiled. Harry had forgiven them so quickly and looked more interested than scared now. "With our hands. When James examined you at your relatives, he used his hand on you, and so he knows as much about your wounds as I know because I scanned you magically while I held your hand in the living room."

"So you... you did this just to scan me?" Of course they didn't want to touch him out of... out of what? No, they just wanted to do their work the tricky way.

"Of course I didn't just do it to examine you, but I was very worried and so I used the chance when you allowed me to comfort you a bit. I really liked to cuddle you, Harry. In our family we cuddle a lot as that is a good way to show someone that he is loved and wanted."

"But nobody loves me. I'm a—"

Clara placed her finger over Harry's mouth. "Wizard, Harry. You are a wizard and that is nothing to be ashamed of." When Harry didn't protest Clara stroke over his hair in affection and pulled Harry against her shoulder as she sat beside him on the bed.

James had placed a chair in front of Harry and sat down. "Would you please undress for me, Harry? You can leave you underwear on."

Harry bit his bottom lip while he let Clara help him to undress. When he was just in his old briefs, he looked scared at James.

"Now, just relax, Harry. I won't hurt you," James said, laying his hand on Harry's shoulder to calm him. "Would you please drop the glamor now?"

"Glamor?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"What you used to hide your wounds from us."

"They are just gone. It happened when you came."

"It's accidental then," Clara stated, taking Harry's sweaty hand.

"Okay, Harry, I will make your body drop the glamor now," James explained, squeezing Harry's shoulder. "This could feel a bit weird, but you don't need to panic. We are here with you, okay?"

Harry nodded nervously.

"Maybe you should lay down as you could get a bit dizzy." James and Clara changed positions and helped Harry to lie down. Clara was now sitting on the chair close to Harry's head and stroked through his raven hair. James had sat down on the bed beside Harry's hip.

"I will lay my hand flat on your chest now and my other hand I will lay against your forehead. You can trust me, Harry. Nothing bad will happen," James explained calmly.

Harry was scared when a very odd feeling went through his body. He even had the feeling he needed to relief himself and tried hard to not have an accident.

"It's over, Harry. I also scanned you for other problems so the main work is finished. Now I have to feel your belly and examine and heal your back." After James had prodded a few times on Harry's belly, he said, "Okay, Harry, now please turn on your stomach."

Harry did what James told him. Those people were so nice to him. He really wished they would like him to at least let him stay for a few days. That could have been his holiday, his first holiday from the Dursleys. He yelped surprised when his briefs were pulled down. He tried to grab behind him, but James caught his hand. "I need to heal all the wounds, Harry. Please let me help you. It will be over soon."

A hot pain made him stop his protest and stream of thought. He winced and whimpered.

"I know, Harry, I'm just cleaning the open cuts. It's necessary and it will be over soon."

"Take my hand, Harry. You can squeeze it as hard as you need," Clara offered, and Harry took it gladly. The pain was really bad, almost as bad as when Uncle Vernon beat him. The different was that Harry knew James didn't want to hurt him; he just did it to make him heal.

"You are very brave. I'm almost done," James stated, and Harry found new hope that the pain would vanish soon. "That was it, Harry. I will heal the open wounds now. That should just tickle a bit."

It did and in an uncomfortable way. Clara had to instruct him to breath a few times as Harry held his breath for too long. "What a big boy," James praised. "I will apply the healing salve and then you are finished."

Soon Harry was relaxing under James hands as the salve had a painkilling and cooling effect.

"Harry."

"Harry," someone spoke softly in Harry's ear, and he groggily woke up completely. It was Clara. The kind woman smiled down at Harry. "I know you are tired, but you are very thin and we would like to start getting some meat over those bones as soon as possible." She tickled his side, and Harry had to giggle. When she let go, Harry realized he had his briefs on again but otherwise was still naked.

"Can I dress again?"

"I thought you maybe would like to take a shower or have a bath. You can have some of Taylor's old clothes. I kept them for the case we would get another boy."

"And my back?" Harry asked, worried.

"The salve is water proof. You don't need to worry. If you want, I can help you in the bathroom or we could ask Taylor."

"I can do it alone. I'm used to it."

"All right, but if you feel dizzy or otherwise need help, please call for us," Clara said, obviously not very happy to let Harry bath alone.

Harry nodded and let Clara show him the bathroom.

"I will let Taylor bring you the clothes. Is that all right?"

Harry nodded and waited for Clara to leave the bathroom to slip out of his worn briefs and step into the shower. He had shortly eyed the tub. At the Dursleys he never was allowed to bath in the tub and only was allowed to use the shower for two minutes. He would have loved to try out the tub, but he didn't want to look greedy, so he used the shower.

Harry hadn't heard the bathroom door open, but when he stepped out of the shower, he found a big towel and new clothes were his brief had been. He blushed thinking about Taylor putting away his old briefs.

Carefully Harry peeked out into the hall, not knowing if he was allowed to leave the bathroom.

"Finished?" Taylor asked and pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against.

Harry nodded. He knew that some boys only were kind while their parents were around and otherwise could be very mean. Especially Dudley's friends. They often played Harry-Hunt, and when they caught him, they beat and kicked him or mocked him. One day they even had stripped him down to nothing and he had to run through the town naked. That had been one of the worst days in his life.

"Then come. Mum and Dad are in the living room and wait for us for supper." Taylor smiled at Harry.

So Taylor wasn't one of the bad boys, Harry realized relieved but nevertheless remained cautious should this be a trick.

"What's wrong? Are you scared of me?" Taylor asked, surprised.

Harry blushed and looked down.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you or whatever you think I could do to you. Mum and Dad often bring some kids home who need help or ran away from their relatives. They speak with them and then arrange meetings with the parents to clear things up. The kids mostly go home after a few days."

"And when they have nowhere to go?"

Taylor shrugged. "Then they are placed in foster families."

"My relatives said my parents wanted to give me to foster parents but nobody would want a freak like me. Then they died in a car crash and my relatives had to take me in because nobody else wanted me."

Taylor looked as shocked as when Harry had said his name. "Ehm... I think we should go to the living room."

Harry let his head hang. What would happen with him now? Foster parents wouldn't want him, and James had said he would never go back to his relatives. Maybe James would send him back to the Dursleys when he finds out that no foster family will take him in. "Do you know what happened with my clothes? I will need them when I go back to my uncle and his family. I'm not allowed to wear new clothes."

"First, they are not new clothes. They are my old ones. Second, your uncle is an arsehole and you will never go back to him."

Harry stooped and gaped at Taylor. "Are you allowed to talk like this?"

"Around Mum and Dad, of course not, but around you, who cares."

"I need my clothes, Taylor. Please make sure they don't throw them away. My uncle will be mad."

Taylor shook his head. "What of 'you are not going back to him' didn't you understand?"

Harry sighed. "I already told you, no foster family will take me. I need my clothes to go back to my uncle."

Taylor rolled his eyes. "I told you the _other kids_ were going to foster families when they couldn't or didn't want to go back to their families. You, Harry Potter, will stay. You already found your foster family."

Harry frowned. "That's not funny, Taylor."

Taylor snorted. "No, it isn't. Didn't you listen? They offered you a room for yourself. You will live here."

"Really?" Harry asked in hope. That would be too good to be true.

"Really. Now let's go before Mum sends a search party." Taylor threw his arm over Harry's shoulder. When Harry jerked away, Taylor stopped shocked. "Did I hurt you? I thought Dad had already healed you."

Harry blushed. "I'm sorry. I..."

"Not used to it, right?"

Harry shook his head.

"No, problem, but I fear you will have to get used to it now." Taylor stepped closer to Harry again. "Ready to learn?"

Harry breathed deeply and nodded.

Taylor slowly laid his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Okay, little brother. Time for supper."

* * *

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks a lot to my beta-reader_, _Emma, for correcting my mistakes._

_Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A great thank you to my moti-betas as well._

_I'm not a native speaker of English!_

**Dear readers,**

Here is your next chapter. Hope you enjoy it. PLease let me know what you think about it!

Sunny

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Family **

-II-

"Really. Now let's go before Mum sends a search party." Taylor threw his arm over Harry's shoulder. When Harry jerked away, Taylor stopped shocked. "Did I hurt you? I thought Dad had already healed you."

Harry blushed. "I'm sorry. I..."

"Not used to it, right?"

Harry shook his head.

"No, problem, but I fear you will have to get used to it now." Taylor stepped closer to Harry again. "Ready to learn?"

Harry breathed deeply and nodded.

Taylor slowly laid his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Okay, little brother. Time for supper."

-II-

It was like being in paradise. Harry had never seen so much food, and he was surprised how nice it was to eat with other people at the table. They were chatting happily. Emily was talking about her daycare, Taylor rolling his eyes when James asked him about his homework for the summer holidays and Clara was talking about a girl at Hogwarts who had tried to apply a salve to make her spots go away and instead of them got big boils.

Hogwarts was the school Taylor was going to. A school for wizards and witches, and you get a wand when you are allowed to attend it. Harry was sad he had to wait until he was eleven to be accepted, but he was relieved that James and Clara promised him that he would be accepted. A school full of freaks like Harry. That must be cool.

Taylor seemed to be a good student but nevertheless was annoyed by the amount of homework. He had just finished his 5th year a week ago.

Emily was going to daycare. It seems there also were just wizards and witches. Harry wondered if he could go there as well.

"Harry? Are you all right?" James who sat beside him at the head of the table asked. "Do you have a stomach ache?"

Harry shook his head. He felt awkward between all the chatty people. Maybe they find him odd because he was so silent? "I'm not hungry anymore."

"That's normal, Harry. Your stomach slowly has to adjust to more food. In a few days you will be able to eat as much as you wish to." James smiled knowingly at Harry.

Harry let his eyes wander over the food again. Yes, he would love to try more of the food, but his stomach was so full. "What will happen in a few days?"

Before James could answer the fireplace close to the table flared green and to Harry's horror a big man stepped out of it, the green flames dancing around him on his clothes until he wiped over them with his bare hands. Harry fell more than jumped out of his chair. He wanted to run, but James was quicker and had grabbed for his arm. "Calm down, Harry. That's a normal way for wizards to travel. They are friends. No need to be afraid of them."

When James hand had closed around Harry's wrist, the boy was surprised of himself when he didn't fight to get loose but stepped closer to James. The healer pulled him almost onto his lap, throwing an arm around his waist.

Harry's eyes were fixed on the man who now stood close by. A woman stood beside him, but Harry's eyes could just stare at the man. He was bulgy and looked as if he came straight from the battlefield. His long black coat was open, and Harry could see an odd metallic leg where the man's right leg should be. The scariest thing was the man's face. It was covered with scars and instead of two eyes he only had one. The left eye was replaced with a glassy one; a big glassy one. The iris didn't even have the same color as the healthy eye. It was of a bright blue as the real eye was more gray-blue.

The man stared at him. Then suddenly something happened that made Harry swallow some air in shock. The glassy eye started to spin around, the pupil even rolling into the head.

Emily giggled wildly and clapped her tiny hands. "Yeah, Uncle Al!" she cheered at the scary looking man and bounced on her chair.

The woman beside the man wasn't as amused as Emily. She glared at the man and gave him a cuff on the back of his head so Harry feared the odd glassy eye would pop out of the man's eye socket and roll over to him. "Really, Alastor, how old are you? Do you want to give the poor boy a heart attack?"

Still muttering something that sounded like 'old fool' she came over to Harry. "Hello, young man. I'm Aunt Poppy, Clara's big sister."

Harry's mouth dropped open. Did this woman really want him to call her aunt? His Aunt Petunia always seemed to wanting the ground to swallow her out of shame when Harry called her aunt. Insecurely Harry craned his neck to look at James. The healer smiled reassuringly at him and nodded.

Shyly Harry extracted his hand to the woman and she took it smiling happily as if Harry had made her a big gift with it. "I... I'm Harry."

"Nice to meet you, Harry."

Harry's eyes became bigger again when the strange man stepped beside the nice woman, and Harry pressed himself harder against James.

"This is Uncle Alastor, Harry. He looks scarier than he is," James reassured the frightened child who was now almost crawling on his lap.

Alastor made a grim face and leaned down to be close to Harry's face. "Not many people would say so." After a short dramatic pause and an elbow hit of his wife, Alastor grinned and ruffled Harry's hair. "But you can, lad. I'm Uncle Al and I hope you left me something to eat." Alastor straightened up and let his eyes roam over the table. "Came straight from the Auror office after I got your message, James."

"Let's talk when the kids are asleep. Now dig in." James gestured Alastor to one of the free chairs and conjured two more dishes on the table for their guest.

"Oh no no, I already ate at Hogwarts," Poppy said, but nevertheless sat down on a chair exhausted. "What a day."

"Then at least a cup of tea, Poppy," Clara said and had already poured her sister some tea.

X-X

"Tired?" Taylor asked when Harry yawned for the sixth time since they were playing Exploding Snap. Harry had loved the game but now he looked really tired.

"A bit but the game is cool." Absentmindedly Harry rubbed his eyes.

"We can play it again tomorrow, and I'll ask Dad if I can teach you flying with a broom. I'm—"

"Like them?" Harry asked, excited, fully awake again, as he pointed at the Quidditch poster.

Taylor chuckled over Harry's enthusiasm. "Yes, like them. I play Quidditch in Hogwarts. That's the game they play on the poster. I'm a beater. My best buddy, Charlie, is the seeker of our team. Maybe we can go over to the Burrow in a few days and play a real game of Quidditch with him and his brother. He has a brother in your age. His name is Ronald, but we all just call him Ron. His twin brothers Fred and George are responsible for that poisoning accident, so I'm not sure if we will be allowed to go over anytime soon. We will have to see."

Harry had listened in awe. Playing Quidditch with Taylor's friends. That would be great. "What's a seeker and what's a beater and how—"

Taylor laid his finger over Harry's lips as he had done with Emily. "I will tell you everything you want to know tomorrow. Now off to the bathroom, Mum has placed everything you need beside my things. I'll show you."

Harry felt his heart jump when he found a beaker with his name on beside Taylor's. The toothbrush was brand new and not old and damaged like the one Harry had to use at the Dursley's. Harry could hardly reach the sink, so Taylor showed him Emily's little bench. "You can use Em's bench to reach the sink and mirror better."

Harry blushed. He hated being so small. In school the other kids always mocked him for it. "Do you really think I will have a grow spurt?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Ugh?"

"You said it to Emily when she said I'm small."

"Oh, yeah, of course. I grew eight inchs in half a year, so don't worry. With the food you will get here you will grow fast now. Wizards often take a little longer to grow as their magic is taking energy of them. You need more food than Muggles, and I don't need to be a healer to see that you aren't a normal weight for someone your age."

Harry looked down at himself. He thought he looked much better with Taylor's clothes and not so skinny anymore.

Taylor ruffled Harry's hair. "Don't worry about it. You will grow, I promise."

Harry smiled. He was almost the same height with Taylor now where he stood on the small bench.

"Now, brush your teeth or Mum will have our heads."

It almost felt as if Harry really belonged to them. Taylor was talking with him as if he had always been his brother.

"Will I go to daycare, Taylor?"

Taylor spilled the water he had in his mouth to rinse the toothpaste off in the sink. "Daycare? That's for babies like Em."

"But I can't go to Hogwarts yet."

"Of course not. You will go to pre-school. You will mostly learn things you learned on your Muggle school. You have been to school, haven't you?"

"Of course," Harry said quickly. Then he sadly added, "But I didn't like it."

Taylor laughed and clapped Harry on his shoulder. "Who likes school, Harry?" When he had calmed down his laughter, he said, "At least you will get to know other wizards there and the teachers know how to react to accidental magic. Nobody will punish you for things you can't control. Em is making her daycare teacher go crazy. It's not normal to show so much magic in her age."

"What if I don't have enough magic, Taylor?"

Taylor snorted and then shortly paused. "You are Harry Potter."

"Yes," Harry said almost afraid to hear more.

"You really have no clue, right?"

"No clue about what? About magic?"

Taylor shook his head. "I think Mum and Dad will explain everything to you soon. Now, are you finished?"

Harry knew Taylor was hiding something from him, but the boy had been so kind to him that Harry didn't dare to nag him more about the topic.

Taylor threw his arm around Harry's shoulder again in the hall and they went to see Clara and James in the living room.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Taylor greeted the old man who sat beside Clara.

Harry felt Taylor's arm tighten around him protectively which made him immediately suspicious of the old, harmless looking man.

"Hello, Mr. Smith. How is your holiday?" the old man with his long white beard and twinkling blue eyes asked.

"Fine, until now." Taylor looked at his father who nodded at him.

"Come over here, Harry." James gestured him to come to him.

Cautiously Harry went to James not leaving the old man out of his sight.

"Smart brat, isn't he, Albus?" Alastor said from the couch opposite of the Headmaster. "Knows just by instinct who to be wary about."

"There is no need to be wary about me, Alastor. You shouldn't give Harry that impression."

"Oh really, old man? I would say placing him in a family—"

"Alastor, that's enough," Poppy said, glaring at her husband. "Albus already agreed to let Harry stay here."

"Oh, how gracious of him. That's the least he should do after not checking on the boy for years."

"I already said I'm sorry, Alastor. I can't make it undone. I thought the boy would be safe with them. I had no idea what sort of people they really were."

"Then you should have checked," Alastor thundered and let his fist smash down on the couch table that it creaked dangerously.

Harry jumped and landed on James lap. He was not really frightened, no he felt a strange feeling seeing Alastor fight for him. Never in his life had anyone cared what happened to Harry and never had anyone fought for him like that.

"You two will stop this nonsense and remember that you are friends or I have to ask you to leave my house."

Damn hell, was that the same Clara Harry got to know the last few hours? She looked dangerously as if she really would dare to attack one or even both of the old men.

Both men sat down, Alastor grunting something like insufferable woman and Albus smiling at Clara.

"Did you hear what the headmaster had said before the shouting match started?" James asked Harry.

There had been said so much, Harry couldn't remember anything particular.

"Professor Dumbledore is not only Taylor's headmaster but your magical guardian as well. Since your parents died he had custody over you. He thought your family would love you, so he gave you to them until you would have turned eleven to attend Hogwarts. He didn't know what bad people your relatives are, so he never checked if you were all right."

"You knew my parents?" Harry asked the old man.

"Yes, I did. They were very kind people and they loved you a lot."

Harry shook his head. "Uncle Vernon said my dad was a drunk and he killed himself and my mum with a car."

Gasps were to be heard all over the room, and Harry looked around puzzled. The old man recovered first. "Your parents were honorable people, Harry. You father was no drunk. They died in a battle, a wizard battle. A dark wizard came to your house and attacked your family. You were the only one who survived. The scar on your forehead is a sign of that battle."

Harry felt for the scar that looked like a lightening. "Uncle Vernon said it was from the car crash."

"Your uncle lied to you about many things, Harry. In our world you are well known as the defeater of the Dark Lord. Nobody knows for sure how you did it but there are many theories. What is for sure is that you backfired the killing curse the dark wizard send at you and killed him."

"Me?"

"Yes, you, Harry. It's too late today to tell you the full story, but I would like to explain to you why I placed you with your relatives. Nobody knew about your aunt and uncle as your mother had broken up with them to keep them safe from the danger of our world. Only I as your magical guardian did know. Even though the dark wizard is dead, many of his followers are still alive looking for revenge. You are a main target—"

"Albus, he is eight," Poppy protested.

"Still he needs to learn that he is in danger to know that he needs protection and can't move around as easily as others. He needs to know that there could be children of Death Eaters in his class when he goes to pre-school."

"Death Eaters?" Harry whispered, scared.

"The followers of the dark wizard Professor Dumbledore just told you about, are called that," James explained and stroked his hand through Harry's hair.

"And they want to kill me?" Harry asked James.

James didn't answer immediately, but eventually he replied, "Yes, I fear so, Harry, but we will do everything to keep you safe."

* * *

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks a lot to my beta-reader_, _Emma, for correcting my mistakes._

_Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A great thank you to my moti-betas as well.  
_

_I'm not a native speaker of English!_

**Dear readers,**

I'm sorry but the next chapter will need some time. I'm currently not writing fanfiction because I write on my real book. I will constantly uploading HahnF 2 and final Breeze 2 as I have those stories finished. I promise to start writng on MR when I uploaded the last chapter of HahnF 2, no matter if I finished my real book or not. The story will be finished. I promise you this! Please be patient and if yyou want read HahnF meanwhile as it is similar to this story.

So please forgive me. I hope this chapter will cheer you up a bit!**  
**

Sunny

* * *

******Chapter 5 - Monsters**

-II-

"Albus, he is eight," Poppy protested.

"Still he needs to learn that he is in danger to know that he needs protection and can't move around as easily as others. He needs to know that there could be children of Death Eaters in his class when he goes to pre-school."

"Death Eaters?" Harry whispered, scared.

"The followers of the dark wizard Professor Dumbledore just told you about, are called that," James explained and stroked his hand through Harry's hair.

"And they want to kill me?" Harry asked James.

James didn't answer immediately, but eventually he replied, "Yes, I fear so, Harry, but we will do everything to keep you safe."

-II-

Feeling groggy, Harry wondered if it came from the odd drink Clara and James had given him before they had tucked him in. They really had tucked him in. It was so great. He even got a kiss from both of them on his forehead. Taylor only got one from Clara and a hair ruffle from James.

Harry stumbled out of his bed and over to Taylor who snored, his face in his pillow. "Taylor?"

The older boy didn't move.

"Taylor." Harry shook his new brother's shoulder.

"What is it, Harry?"

"When do we have to get up?"

"There is an alarm clock on my night table," the brown-haired boy said half asleep.

"I know, but when do we have to get up to prepare breakfast?"

"It's not time for breakfast, Harry. Go to bed."

"Taylor," Harry whined, shaking Taylor's shoulder hard. "I don't want to get in trouble on my first day here. When do I have to start cooking?"

"Harry, you are talking nonsense. You must still be half asleep. Go to bed and sleep." With that Taylor pulled the pillow over his head and, shortly after, started to snore again.

Harry sighed. Taylor was no help, but Harry didn't want to get in trouble. So he sneaked out of the room. He knew he was upstairs and needed to go downstairs. The kitchen was most certainly close to the living room which was near the basement.

After trying some doors, which were what seemed to be an office, a library and a storeroom, Harry finally found the kitchen. It was a weird kitchen. There was something that looked like an alien cooker, but there were no buttons to use it. There also was no fridge and the kitchen was so tiny. If there hadn't been the cooker and the big sink where some pots were placed into, Harry would have never guessed this was the kitchen.

Movement from a small cupboard made Harry turn and then scream like hell when two sets of big bulgy eyes were staring at him. Immediately the odd bulgy eyed creatures started screaming in a high pitched way alongside Harrys. Harry couldn't stop screaming while he stared in horror at the small ugly creatures with big ears and what seemed like pillow covers as clothes.

The screams were so loud they could surely be heard in the hall, outside in the garden and most likely in the whole town. For sure it was heard in the bedrooms of the house, so soon the whole family stormed into the kitchen, their wands raised—except Emily—and in various states of dress. James and Taylor were in pajamas and barefoot. Clara had found the time to throw a bathrobe around her. Emily looked still half asleep and like a princess in her pink nightshirt.

Observing the scene, James sighed and placed his wand in his pajama bottoms. "Whimsy, Timsy, stop screaming."

Immediately the creatures stopped screaming, but their eyes and their mouths remained wide open as if still screaming.

When the creatures stopped, Harry also stopped screaming.

"Why are you out of bed at this time, Harry?" James asked and sneaked closer. He placed his hand on Harry's forehead, feeling if the boy was running a fever.

"I... I.. wanted to cook."

"Cook at five o'clock? Are you even awake, Harry?" James asked and knelt down to look Harry in his eyes.

"Oh, damn, he muttered something about having to prepare breakfast to not get in trouble. I thought he was dreaming and sent him back to bed, Dad," Taylor explained.

"It's all right, Taylor," James assured his son, knowing how fast the boy felt responsible for things he couldn't even prevent.

"Come on, Harry, back to bed with you."

"But the monsters?" Harry whimpered and hid behind James legs peeking around them at the two big-eyed creatures.

"Those are Whimsy and his wife Timsy. They are our house-elves, Harry. They help us cooking and they keep the house clean."

"Elves?"

"House-elves. Many wizards have them for help."

"Whimsy and Timsy are very nice house-elves," Clara said and knelt down beside the creatures and closed their mouth with a gentle move with her fingers under their chins. "That is Harry. He is our new son. He will live with us."

"A new little master, Madam Smith?" Whimsy asked, excited.

"Yes, a new little master, Whimsy." Clara smiled as the expression of her house-elves changed immediately.

Harry stared in shock as the two creatures started to bounce and clap their hands happily about the news that he will stay here. Why were they so excited?

"Yeah," Emily screamed, ran over to Whimsy and Timsy and bounced and clapped with them.

Clara sighed. "Great now our little princess is fully awake." She smiled at James who chuckled. "I will try my best to get her to sleep a few more hours." Clara scooped the little girl up who protested that her dance with the house-elves had been interrupted. "We have still two and a half hours to sleep, princess. Harry was a bit confused and woke too early." With that she carried Emily out of the kitchen.

"I will bring him back to bed, Dad," Taylor offered and held his hand out to Harry.

"Thanks. Tell your mother I will hop over to the clinic to arrange to take a day off."

"I can watch him, Dad."

"No, not the first days, Taylor. We don't know how many incidents will happen now where he is in a magical surrounding. We will speak about how to arrange things later."

Taylor knew it was useless to argue with his Dad even though he felt totally capable to watch Harry.

Harry took Taylor's hand and let himself being led to his bed. "Try to sleep some more, Harry."

"But what about breakfast?"

"The house-elves do the breakfast and any other meal. You don't have to cook or clean or whatever your relatives made you do. Okay you need to clean your room and keep the bathroom tidy, but others than that you won't have chores if you stay out of trouble and don't get punishments."

"Punishments?"

"Yeah, garden work, cleaning something or worst a grounding from flying or a total grounding where you aren't allowed to see your friends and have to stay inside."

"I don't have friends."

"You will find some soon. I'm sure you will like Charlie's brother Ron and maybe you will even like Fred and George, his twin brothers who made the potion joke. They are ten."

"Potion joke?"

"The poisoning of the Muggles."

"Muggles?"

"People like your relatives. People without magic."

"You think killing people is fun?" Harry looked shocked at Taylor.

"They just wanted to change the hair color of the Muggles to lilac. We grow up hardly learning anything about Muggles. So they didn't know that potions have a different effect on Muggles than on wizards as you have to have magic to activate the potion. They are harmless little potion brewing geniuses. Uncle Sev, okay he isn't really my uncle, but Emily calls him this all the time and it rubbed off on me. He doesn't like it so don't call him that, at least not the first few times."

"Uncle Sev?"

"Oh yeah, ehm... he is the Potions Master at Hogwarts and Em's and Fred and George's godfather. They learned everything about potions from him, and I bet they are in big trouble with him now. He was at school with your parents. Maybe he can tell you something about them. Mum and Dad are too old to know them from school."

"You think he would tell me something about them?" Harry sat up in his bed. "When can I see him?"

"Like I said, he is Em's godfather and often comes over. He lives at Hogwarts with his adoptive son. He likes to escape Hogwarts as often as possible, and he is a patient of Dad. That's how they got to know each other. Sev fought in the battle against Voldemort as a spy. Damn I can still remember what that evil freak has done to him while he still thought he was one of his Death Eaters. That arsehole was a real bastard with a crazy mind."

"Voldemort," Harry led the name run over his tongue. He had killed that wizard even though he couldn't remember.

"Uncle Sev is often grumpy, but don't let this upset you. He is just playing it. In reality he is soft like a bunny. You should see him with Em. He calls her his little princess and he plants the idea in her mind that she would learn to become a Potions Mistress under him." Taylor snorted. "If she would know what a bastard he is in class, she would not speak non-stop of not being able to wait for learning potions from him."

"What if he doesn't like me?. Maybe he will tell the other Death Eaters where I am?"

"He was my age when he joined Voldemort and turned spy as soon as he realized what a freak Voldemort was. He went to Headmaster Dumbledore to make him put him to Azkaban our prison. The headmaster offered him the job as potions master and ask him to spy on Voldemort for him. So he did and suffered things under that which made Dad and Mum not very fond of the old man. That's how Professor Snape became Uncle Sev to us. He had his own room in the house while I was small, but now he only seldom comes here to get help from Dad. I don't really know what's wrong with him, but I guess some of the things he saw or had to undergo left lasting effects that Dad still has to treat."

"That's horrible."

"Yes, it is, but he is a damn genius and out of school even, a great teacher for many things. He often helps me with my homework. I'm sure you will like Draco, his adoptive son. He took him in when his mother died and his father was placed into Azkaban because he was a Death Eater. He is Ron's friend."

Harry sighed sadly.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"Then he won't be interested in becoming my friend."

"Why so?"

"Because he already has a friend."

"You can never have enough friends, Harry. I'm sure you will become friends to both. Maybe you will be in the same class with them in pre-school."

"Maybe," Harry said not very convinced.

X-X

"And?" Clara asked when James crawled back in their bed.

"I took the day off."

"You won't do something stupid with Alastor, will you?"

"Of course not, sweetie."

"James?" Clara asked, knowing her husband well.

"We talked about taking Kingsley with us."

"That sounds reasonable, so I don't have to fear I have to visit you in Azkaban with the kids for murdering the horrible people. You won't do anything illegal, right?"

"Lets sleep a bit more." James snuggled closer to her.

"James!" Clara said, alarmed.

James sighed. "You don't want to know."

"Yes, I do."

"Alastor said it's better to not tell you."

"I bet he did, but you will tell me this moment."

"We will go over and tell them that they have to sign our adoption papers. We cannot make charges against them for abusing Harry as we removed him from the Muggle world with this adoption. We have to let them off the hook, but we will inform them that they have to pay a charge for it. I know that's not really legal, but it will be for a good cause. We will donate all the money to a project for orphans. Then I will leave with Kingsley."

Clara bumped her elbow into James stomach. "You will not, James. I didn't forget that Alastor was with you in this little story."

He hated that he could never keep any secrets from his wife. "You don't want me to stay while he tells them what he thinks about them."

"No, I don't want that. I want you to take him with you."

"He is an adult."

"You will bring him back here and won't let him scare the shit out of those people."

"They deserve it, Clara. You should have seen them."

"I saw Harry and that's enough for me to know how horrible they are, but I don't want Alastor to go so low. He is Taylor's godfather and he adores him. I don't want him to get the idea illegal things like this and paying things back an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth are the way to solve problems."

James groaned. "Clara, Alastor has done things much more illegal than frightening a few Muggles who deserve much worse."

"I won't discuss this anymore." Clara got out of the bed angrily. "If I find out you left him there alone, you can sleep on the couch from now on."

"Fantastic," James said and threw himself on his back on the bed. "Why do I get punished for my brother in law's actions?"

X-X

"You let your little wife treat you like that?" Alastor asked, amused. "Too bad that I won't listen to you."

"Alastor, please. She will find out and will have my head."

"Your problem, James. Sneak some calming draught into her tea. My wife does this all the time with me."

"My wife is a healer and as soon as she takes a sip of it, she would know I mixed something in."

"You should have thought about this before you married her, dunderhead."

James rolled his eye. "Kingsley?" He looked help-seeking at the black, bald man in the black Auror uniform.

"He ranks above me," Kingsley said.

Alastor chuckled. "Poor Jamie-boy doesn't get any help. His little wifey will make him sleep on the couch now."

James hated that Alastor rubbed their thirteen year age difference in his face whenever possible. Alastor was thirteen years older than James and often treated him as if he was his son and not his brother in law. Normally James liked it, but sometimes it was really annoying especially when Alastor use it to mock him. "I shouldn't have told you."

Alastor laughed a rich laugh. "I would have found out anyway, boy."

Boy, oh yeah sure. James looked grumpily at him. He was thirty seven which was far from being a boy in James eyes.

Alastor stepped over to the fireplace and threw some Floo powder into it. "Potions Master Severus Snape, Hogwart." The fireplace flared green until it changed into yellow, made a ringing sound, and then turned green again. "Sev, get your arse over at James' house."

"Would you refrain from calling me that stupid nickname, Alastor?" the black clad, thin man of twenty-eight years said after stepping out of the fire place.

"Ah Sevy-poo doesn't like big bad Alastor calling him by his pet name." Alastor took Severus in a headlock while the younger man was occupied with getting rid of the ash from his cloak. "Constant vigilance, Sev." Alastor ruffled Severus' hair.

Severus kicked Alastor in his stomach with his elbow. "Damn, what did you give the old man, James."

"Nothing. I'm just happy that I will punish some abusive arseholes." Alastor smashed his fist in his palm and rubbed it around.

"Ah, so we are talking about Potter, I guess? Albus told me about it. So how is the boy?"

"Better than he should be after what that bastards did to him. The problem is that our friend here got cold feet, so I need a new partner in crime."

"Alastor, please see reason. You can't pull Severus in this. He will be in trouble. The Ministry still is watching him, and if he attacks Muggles, he will be in Azkaban faster than—"

"I'm from the Ministry, James. So calm down," Alastor said to interrupt James.

"Listen to my advice, Sev. Never take a woman in. See what happened with poor James here. She will cut your balls off."

James rolled his eyes. "Please don't listen to him, Severus."

"Can someone tell me what you all planned?" Severus asked and sat down.

"I would say slow torture. You will hold them while I poke their eyes out."

* * *

**Please review!**

I can'r reply to reviews any longer. If you have a question or want to discuss something you can use my forum or PM me. Nevertheless I hope you will leave a review!

Forum: http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/myforums/grugster/721716/


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks a lot to my beta-reader_, _Emma, for correcting my mistakes._

_Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_A great thank you to my moti-betas as well.  
_

_I'm not a native speaker of English!_

**Dear readers,**

**I'm sorry that you had to wait so long. I'm still not finished with my original book and so I have no time for fanfiction. I only update my other stories as I had them already finished but not betaed or because I had a lot of more chapters done. So I still have to ask you to be patient. I hope that I can give you another chapter in one or two month but I can't promise anything. I hope you will be glad to see a new chapter now.  
**

**Sunny**

* * *

******Chapter 6**

-II-

"Ah Sevy-poo doesn't like big bad Alastor calling him by his pet name." Alastor took Severus in a headlock while the younger man was occupied with getting rid of the ash from his cloak. "Constant vigilance, Sev." Alastor ruffled Severus' hair.

Severus kicked Alastor in his stomach with his elbow. "Damn, what did you give the old man, James."

"Nothing. I'm just happy that I will punish some abusive arseholes." Alastor smashed his fist in his palm and rubbed it around.

"Ah, so we are talking about Potter, I guess? Albus told me about it. So how is the boy?"

"Better than he should be after what that bastards did to him. The problem is that our friend here got cold feet, so I need a new partner in crime."

"Alastor, please see reason. You can't pull Severus in this. He will be in trouble. The Ministry still is watching him, and if he attacks Muggles, he will be in Azkaban faster than—"

"I'm from the Ministry, James. So calm down," Alastor said to interrupt James.

"Listen to my advice, Sev. Never take a woman in. See what happened with poor James here. She will cut your balls off."

James rolled his eyes. "Please don't listen to him, Severus."

"Can someone tell me what you all planned?" Severus asked and sat down.

"I would say slow torture. You will hold them while I poke their eyes out."

-II-

Kingsley had to grin when James finally got that Alastor had been mocking him the whole time.

"One day you will be the death of me, Alastor. Why did you have to do this to me? I've had a hard night and morning." James went over to his alcohol cabinet. "Anyone else a drink?"

"Drinking so early? What would Clara say?" Alastor teased.

"She is not around. So who wants one?"

"I think we can all use one before we go over to the Dursleys," Kingsley said and accepted the drink.

"Anyone except for Sev here," Alastor said, this time parental and not mocking.

"I wouldn't have accepted it anyway," Severus said grumpily. He knew alcohol didn't get along well with the potions he still often had to take due to the pain seizures he had from time to time. They were long-term after effects from the torture he had gone through during his service to Voldemort.

"Sure thing, my boy. Don't fret, I'm just looking out for you."

Severus sighed. "I still have no clue what you have really planned."

"As James here made clear that his wife doesn't want to lose her high ideals of myself we need to change my plan to frighten the shit out of the Muggles with some magic. So I think we will just go over, tell them what we think about them, and threaten them into signing the adoption papers for James and his sweet, innocent wife. We all agree that they need some punishment for what they did to Harry, and as we can't take charges against them, we need to be more creative. What about we let something loose in their real home? Something that will make them wonder if it wasn't just Harry who made strange things happen in the house."

"That could leave permanent damage on Harry's cousin. He is just Harry's age," James said.

"Then we will _ask_ him how much he was involved in Harry's suffering, and when he can convince me that he wasn't part of it, we will find a way to make him immune against what we'll set out in their house."

"Even if he was involved in Harry's suffering, he isn't responsible for it. He was raised that way. The adults are the responsible ones," James spoke reason.

"Ah, so we agree that they need punishment."

James looked at Alastor, not answering. He was torn. His feelings wanted him to make the Dursleys suffer but his mind didn't want to sink that low.

"Isn't he sweet, Sev. Such a pure soul. It's refreshing to see that not all are tainted like we are."

"Yes, very refreshing," Severus said grumpily, it was way too early for him to have serious conversations. "So what do you need me for? Obviously the dirty work."

"Oh no, sweetie." Alastor enjoyed Severus' scowl about using another pet name. "I would never taint your soul more than it already is. I want you to speak with the Bloody Baron to ask Peeves to help us. I think he would enjoy a little holiday in Little Whinging."

Severus couldn't suppress a grin. He had feared Alastor would really want him to take part of a torture session. He would have done so for the old man as he was like a father to him, always watching out for him so Albus couldn't work him out or ask too much of him. Alastor was the only one Albus feared and who could speak sense in the headmaster when he forgot a person about the greater good. The idea with Peeves, the poltergeist of Hogwarts was brilliant.

X-X

"I don't really dare to ask but how did it go?" Clara asked her husband when she came back from work.

"It went well. The papers are signed. Only your signature is missing. We visited them, told them what horrible persons they are and that they have to pay 200 pounds each month as a punishment. They agreed after Alastor made up some alternatives for this payment. Then we _all _left without any harm to them." Seeing the suspicious look on his wife's face, James added, "I can place the memory in a Pensieve if you want."

Clara watched him for a few more second and then smiled relieved. Quickly she stepped over to her husband and hugged him tightly.

James couldn't stop from feeling guilty about not telling Clara about Alastor and Severus little 'joke' but at least he hadn't lied. Pulling the image of Harry's wounds to the front of his mind, James could fight the feeling of guilt down.

"We need to talk about the future, James." Clara pulled James to the couch and sat down on his lap. "I plan to give up my job in the clinic."

"Clara, you love your job," James exclaimed, surprised.

"I do, but I also like helping Poppy at Hogwarts. I spoke with her and the headmaster and they will let me work half-time in the infirmary. Poppy needs the help and that way I could be back when Harry comes from pre-school. I would have quit the job in two years anyway as Emily will start pre-school then."

James sighed. "You are sure about this? We could pay a babysitter."

"No, James, I stayed at home for Taylor and we both know it was the best we could do. I want to do it for Harry and Emily as well. They will need help with homework and you know how important it is to explain the things that will accidentally happen to them at that age. I will be happy, darling." She kissed him to make him see she was serious.

"You are the best thing that could have happened to me, Clara."

"You are so sweet when you are happy that you don't have to stay home and be a well-behaved house man." She grinned at him.

"You little tease,"James said and started to tickle her until she lay under him and they found better things to spend their time with than tickling.

X-X

Harry couldn't stop himself from feeling like an outsider even so all those people tried to be nice to him. Harry had been surprised when James and Clara announced during breakfast that he and Taylor would spend the day at the Burrow. That was the home of the family of red-heads he was currently surrounded by. The Weasley family.

As soon as he had stepped through the fireplace with Taylor the Weasleys behaved as if Harry had always been their friend. Just the only girl in the family, Ginny, was behaving shy around him. The journey through the fireplace via floo powder was a very scary thing and Harry felt embarrassed when he noticed too late that he was still clutching Taylors hand like a baby while they were already standing in the kitchen of the Weasleys. Nobody seemed to notice or to think it weird and so Harry slowly stopped blushing.

The whole family seemed to just have waited for Harry to come so they could go playing Quidditch. Taylor had hardly time to introduce all the family members to Harry before they were pulled outside. Especially the younger boys were over-eager. Fred and George, the potion brewer, must have pleaded their mother to be allowed to play Quidditch with the rest of them because Mrs. Weasley pulled them warningly on the ears and told them they should remember to behave and that they would have to make the whole wash-up later for being allowed outside now.

Before Mrs. Weasley had pulled their sons at their ears, Harry had thought she was the nicest lady he had ever seen. Now he wasn't so sure about it and swore he would never make something to make her mad. Easier said than done. Harry never wanted to be bad, it just happened. He hoped it wouldn't happen while he had to be here at the Burrow.

Fred and George seemed okay and not as dangerous and scary as Harry had imagined them. Bill and Charlie were the oldest of the kids and Taylor's friends. As much as Taylor tried to stay close to Harry, in the end he was overwhelmed by the excitement of his best friends and vanished in the big barn with them. So Harry was alone with the twins and their youngest brother Ron. Harry knew that there was another older brother as Percy Weasley had greeted him in the kitchen as well, but he wasn't here with them as he was in his room reading. He was above playing children games as he had stated it.

So now Harry stood beside Ron, nervously gnawing on his bottom lip, not knowing where to look. Fred and George were whispering to each other and then Fred pulled something out of his pocket. "Hey, Ronniepoo, want to see something?"

Ron looked shocked and shook his head vehemently. He even stepped a little closer to Harry. Never someone had stepped close to Harry when he was afraid. Normally the other kids made a big circle around him for not being seen with the weakling.

"Oh, come on, you are our little brother! We would never show you something bad," George said friendly, but even Harry knew it was fake. He started to change his opinion about the twins. If they enjoyed scaring their youngest brother then he didn't like them.

"You showed me the hexed frog and he puked all over me. Mum was mad because she thought I played close to the lake." Ron changed nervously from one foot to the other. He was fighting about which feeling would win, the fear or the curiosity. "And... and one day you made the firework explode in my face and I couldn't see for two days."

No, Harry didn't like the twins anymore. He stepped closer to Ron.

"Oh, you are such a ninny. Then I will show Harry what I have." Fred now held his closed hands in Harry's direction.

"I don't think so!" Taylor said. Harry hadn't heard his brother come over again but was very relieved. "What's in there?" Taylor asked Fred after he had stepped protectively between Harry and the troublemakers.

"My, brother, aren't those people a tad bit to negative? As if we would hurt our brother or Harry Potter himself." Fred shook his head dramatically as he addressed his twin brother.

"You already brought him in danger with your little potion joke," Taylor said accusingly.

"His hair isn't changed to lilac, so we didn't harm him, Taylor. Why are you such an arse? Mum gave us enough trouble about this Muggle joke."

"And she was right!" Bill, the oldest brother, said and gave Fred a cuff on the back of his head. "That wasn't a joke. It was dangerous and you can be happy you aren't old enough for an investigation."

"Investigation, phew," said George. "Uncle Severus gave us the tongue lashing of our life and he won't let us brew with him for three months. I would have preferred an investigation."

"I'm really scared to leave Mum and Dad alone with you two. Maybe I should have looked for a job close by," Bill said thoughtfully. He had accepted the offer to learn under the greatest curse breaker even so that meant he had to go to Romania for it.

"Hey, I'm still here to have an eye on them," Charlie protested.

Bill snorted. "You are not one bit better, Charlie. You want to know what's in his hand even though you know it could be something to make you blind or deaf or green or whatever."

With each option Bill spelled out, Harry shuffled closer to Taylor. If even Fred and Georges' older brother thought they were dangerous then he felt sorry for Ron and would rather stay very close to Taylor.

"Merlin, it's just a butterfly, look!" Fred opened his hands but before Harry could have a look at it he was shoved behind Taylor. Curiosity won and Harry tried to peak around Taylor. When he finally managed to get a glimpse of the butterfly, it popped and shattered into thousand little glittering pieces.

"I did not see it," Harry said sadly.

"I also couldn't see it. Do you have another one?" Ron asked the twins while Taylor and the older boys prepared the brooms.

"Sure," George said and threw a grin at his twin. "Here it is!" He grabbed in his pocket pulled something out and let it hover in front of the boys' faces. This time it was no glittering butterfly but a black, ugly bug. Before one of the boys could react the bug pushed its butt out and sprayed something in their faces.

"Eww, he peed on us," Ron said disgusted and tried to wipe his face. "And it is sticky."

Harry was still shocked and looked at the bug which exploded after he had released whatever it was on their faces. Fred and George almost rolled on the floor laughing and attracted their older brother's attention with it.

"What the hell have you two done now?" Bill scolded and came over to them. Seeing Ron and Harry's faces his annoyance turned into worry.

"It was just a Pee-Bug, but you should have seen their faces," Fred managed to say between laughter. No, Harry didn't like the twins anymore.

"That's not funny. Go inside!" Bill said sternly.

Immediately the twins stopped laughing and looked shocked. "What? No! It was just a joke."

"Mum said no jokes. Go inside!"

"Are you nuts?" George protested. "You are not Dad."

"Oh, if you want I can go and get him. If I were you, I would go inside and stay out of our way."

"But why. It was just a stupid pee-bug. It's funny. You always found it funny when you and your friends send one on us," Fred said angrily, stomping his feet. Harry had the feeling the boy would start crying any moment. "Mum allowed us to play Quidditch."

"But we won't play with you. Harry just learned that he is a wizard yesterday and you morons can't control yourself for one fucking day. That's not funny and it's also not funny that you always have to pick on Ron."

Fred was red like a tomato and it was an even darker red than his hair. "Just because you finished school doesn't make you an adult. You can't tell us what to do."

"Oh yes, I can!" With that Bill pushed his broom in Charlie's hand and grabbed Fred and George in their neck to guide them back inside the house.

"They don't mean bad, Harry. They just have a different sense of... humor." Taylor helped Harry to clean his face. "Look, Bill got the old children broom ready for you. It won't fly high so you don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid," Harry said and tried to look convincing.

Taylor and Charlie laughed.

"I learned on it too, but now I'm allowed to fly the pre-school broom." Ron pointed proudly at the broom beside the one which was meant for Harry.

"So this is the daycare broom?" Harry asked Taylor in a whisper.

Taylor screwed his face. "Yeah, but it's not that bad. I'm sure you will learn fast!"

And that Harry did. Shortly before he had to go back home, he was allowed to fly one round with Ron's broom. Harry beamed proudly. First it was a bit scary to fly so high but Charlie, Bill and Taylor were flanking him. Flying was really great and Harry couldn't wait to be able to really play Quidditch like the others had done while he had learned to ride the daycare broom. The others had taken turns in teaching him, so each of them could play Quidditch for some time. Only Ron stayed the whole time at Harry's side even so his brothers had asked him to come over to play.

"Did you like it?" Ron asked when they went back to the house.

"Yes, I loved it. I wish I would have a broom and a garden like this."

Ron beamed. "You can come over whenever you want. Mum and Dad are friends with your new parents. Taylor often comes over. Draco, my friend who lives at Hogwarts, also comes from time to time but his adoptive Dad doesn't like to be here and I'm not allowed to visit him in Hogwarts because it is a school."

"Taylor told me about him. He goes to school with you, right?"

"Yes, we are in the same class. Will you come to school as well?"

"I hope so, but don't you have school break right now?"

"Only at Hogwarts you have school breaks. Pre-school is only half of the day and our parents can take us on and off as they like. There are no rules. But when we are at Hogwarts, we have to stay and can only come back for holiday."

"Are you good in school, Ron?" Harry asked, worried. What if he will never be accepted at Hogwarts because he wasn't good enough? All the other students would now so much more than him.

"Bill and Charlie say pre-school is just for parents to get a break from their brats. We don't really need it. We only learn boring stuff, no magic. Just writing and reading and counting and something about plants and animals and so. I just go there because of the breaks. There is a big playground and we are allowed to fly. After lunch we can stay until two and then the school closes, but you can also go straight after the last class. Draco and I are allowed to stay, but many have to go home for lunch and are not allowed to stay for playing."

Harry didn't know if he should hope to be one of those who are allowed to stay or to be one to get home for lunch. He just knew he liked Ron and he really, really hoped Draco would not tell Ron to stay away from him.

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**Please let me know if you liked the chapter and don't be sad or mad at me for the very slow updates.**


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